Hollow building block and system of wall construction



July 7, 1925; 1,544,573

7 F. T. HEATH I HOLLOW BUILDING BLOCK AND SYSTEM OF WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed April 4,1923 5 Sheets Sht 1 l Vl ZA FOR.

a -V3011; QM I 45 121 0121x2335 July 1, 1 925.

' F. T. HEATH HOLLOW BUILDING BLOCK AND SYSTEM OF WALL CONSTRU cnoi Filed April' 4 1923 3 sheets sh'e't 5 JLVAJZQVZ' Patented 5511925.

umrsn STATES num- OFFICE- rnisnnmcx 'I'WICHELL HEATH, or TACOMA, wesnme'ron.

.- i'netnow ummus rnnoox AND SYSTEM OF WALL oons'mucrrofi.

Application filed April: 4, 1923. Serialm. 629,818.

- To all 'tviurin it Be a k own that ama T. HEATH,

a citizen "Ofktll United "States, residin at .Tacoma, in the county "of Pierce and H of VVashington,- havel'invented atertain new ingBlocks-an Systems of-Wall construe-z" tate and useful 1m rovement in Hollow 'Build'- tion; of1whichthe following'is a full, clear,

to the accompanying drawings.

and exact description, reference being ha d:

This invention. relates .toa system of I v ..1st1csj of which "the present invention is I construction, and,-as a basis ofthe system,

the invention involves the creation of a holfing, facility of shipment, convenience of placement; in the wall structure/for definite thicknesses of walls as well as at olfsets, corners, jambs, pilastersv and the like;

' Furthermore, these conditions must be'met by a block capableof maintaining universal vertical alignment of the webs and shells of the blocks wall. vBy the present invention I am enabled to accomplish all oithese. and other objects and advantages by the use of a simple, easily manufactured, and conveniently handled voided. block designed upon a mathematical principle such that it may be di- .vided into parts and used in multiples of its parts or of itself with the voids either horizontal or vertical, and with the greatest convenience and without sacrificing capability of carrying the greatest possible load which the mortar itself in the wall will sustain.

In carrying out this invention, I have analyzed all these requirements and by the use of a fundamental principle have made composite block of uniform hollow elements integrally connected and of such size and relationship that all the conditions and requirements for this character of load bearing hollow masonry are fulfilled.

My invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings to which the following descrlption relates.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 1s a diagrammatic view illustrating a concept of amultiple.

throughout all parts of the of a cubieuni't; Fig. 2 illustrates these units in a theoretical block with the walls of these cubes inte ally connected while maintainmgthe idea 'ratios- 3 is an embodiment of the block of ig. 2 in a practical I form of block; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate practical embodiments of a three quarter, half and a-quarter cflbe, respectively, of the composite block; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of several courses of'a wallconstructed- .of the block possessing various charactercapable, the uppermost course of the wall being raised for clearness, of illustration this View showing awa'll of a thickness of twice that of the composite-unit block; Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the wall con-' struction comprised essentially of a single thickness of units; Fig. 9 is a similar view illustrating a wall of one and one half units v thickness; Fig. 10' is a vertica1 section through a 'wall and pilaster as at the line 10'-10 of Fig. 9; Fig;'11-i s a'diagramm'atic view illustrating the pyramid bond effect of which this block is capable.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, to il-. lustrate the designing'of the composite unit,

cubic element a, consisting of a hollow square, that is having a void a. Now be cause the composite block is smaller by the thickness of one mortar joint or bed, which 'may be upon any face, this element is correspondingly smaller than its proportion of the theoretic cube of the composite block. A most convenient size will allow the use of a base'cube element about the width of an ordinary brick and eight of these cubes .would comprise the composite cube. To make these elements into a block of practical form requires that the walls or shells of the elements be continued and integrally connected. When this is done, the result is the block A shown in Fig. 2, showing the side walls of all the base cubes elements joined,

'tudinallvoids.

. To make this. relationship olea'r, may

assumegthat'a theoretical cubeA be'idivided I ip'lus amortar-joi'nt. The dimension m thereinto smaller cubes, .e ach having' a, dimension of m. The larger cubehas then'2i toitjeach of .its'jthree 'dimensions, while .thei actual composite block'has a dimensionotfiF minus the thickness of a mortar'bed or joint. I For 1 practical purposes, the --;composite block maybe'extruded,from adie 'contini voiding of; the c'omposite-block and allows fously; the elements-being .cut byla {moving .wire asfis usual from afcolumnof'clay so formed, into lengths equivalent to the other 1- dimensions of the. block. The corners where i the webs and shells 'ineetare -r'ounded to i 1. Designating the prevent crackingduringtheg burning of the .20

ware in the kilnsand also to: facilitate-the 7 use of suitable dies through: which the clay ,may be extruded. v

V 10, 'wemay note that itsffour outer walls are bracedfb'y doublecr'oss webs 10 ,-,con; L tinuous through the block and joining near r the center of the block, being separated by voids 11, and asmall central void 11, and. because this block still holds the relation- Ship described in connection with Fig. 1, the void 11 corresponds to ,the thickness ota mortar joint, the advantage of wh1ch W 1ll' presently appear in the illustrative walls..

The manner of division of the blocks may be by the use of double adjacent wires as. the clay is extruded, so placed that the block 10 of Fig. 3 may be cut to form a three quarter block 'as' shown in Fig. 4, .or may be divided in two such halt blocks as Fig. '5 or further divided into quarter blocks of Fig. 6, designated respectively 15, 12 and 14. By reason of the alignment of the voids -11, and 11 therewith, a blow of a masons ,hammer or trowel may divide or split one ofthe blocks 10 into its halves or quarters separating it between the webs 10 This affords convenience in case the workman has not at hand the particular division he needs at the moment.

Among the considerations determining the dimensions of an ideal. load bearing hollow building block are: that it may be used for walls varying in thickness by units tore ma substantially to that of the width of a brick finished" of 3,-

dimension substantially eqiiivalent to the width of -the standard brick. 1 There are then two load bearing webs; or; shells for each brick width throughout'th thickness of a wall. The dimensionof the cube in any one direction being that of two. brick widths be considered as corresponding plus one'mortar joint in common use in any particular locality Whilesuch a dimension is merelygillustrative, it is extremely practical because it permits: the proportionate proper thickness of the webs and shells of the block for practical requirements. The

may -be laid jiip of" full blocks. The walls having a thickness of 3", P, etc.,smay include whole blocksand its divisions with the desirable cross bonds... Such walls are illustrated in Figs. 7 to 9. It is clear thatas these walls are shown, a wall such as in Fig.7 will beone mortar joint thickness less than exactly thedi-stance 4", because there .is -always one mortar joint less than the number of bare] cubes transversely of the wall. i Referring particularly to Fig. 7,1 have here shown a wall construction having the thickness. of 4* and having load bearing characteristics by a vertical alignment of the webs and I have accomplished closed voids,

transverse bonds, etc. The upper raised course is'designated M,- shown in this position to illustrate its relationship to the blocks in the course below.' It will be noted that this course at the left consists of two series of blocks 10 laid to bring the voids horizontally and these voids are closed at the corner end by two half blocks 12, one shown with its voids vertically and the other with its voids horizontally. The right hand portion of this course consists of a central series of blocks 10 with the voids horizontally, at each side of which is a series of blocks 12 with the voids horizontally while an end may be formed by turning the central bloekso that its voidsh'un transversely of the wall and the two blocks 12 with their voids vertically. A pilaster construction is illustrated at P, where in the upper course a block 10 is interposed between-two up- 5 ended halves 12 with its voids running parallel to the wall, and the method of bonding these blocks to the wall appearswhen the course below is examined. This pilaster, it.

will be seen, has a dimension 2* projecting outwardly from the wall. and a width of 45. The transversev bonding between adjacent courses appears when it is noted that at the series.

I the blocksdO'and 12' above and below, over-.

left of the view the course N consists of a middle series of blocks 10 at each side of all of the'blocks 10 in the middle-series somat the voids run in the direction of the Noting the pilaster construction, it will be seen that the inner series of half blocks 12 is interrupted by two full blocks 10 bonded by lapping the two blocks 10 and projecting into the wall-a distance of a: and outwardly therefrom, while to complete the pilaster for this course, two half blocks 12 are used.

In the end construction at the right, two

half blocks close the longitudinal voids ofv .the double row of blocks 10. The blocks 12 are bonded by overlapping portions of the blocks 10 and 12 above and below, whilethe corners are completed as before.

Attention is called to the fact that at the corners, pilasters, and all similar places, where portions of the'blocks are used there are not only bonded into position by a perfeet pyramidal bondbut the webs and shells thereof lie in. true vertical planes with webs and shells of blocks-above and below. This .is particularly clearly shown at the left-of this figure when it is noted that the course '0 corresponds with the course M and in the sectional showing it can be noted that blocks 10 extend over'half of the areaof a half block 12, and that-a transverse bond through the wall is effected, that is ahal'f of the longitudinal dimensionof the blocks in one course stands were half of the course .portion of a blockbelow, each block thus bridging the transverse vertical, mortar joint above and below. The simplicity of starting and finishing courses in a manner to efl'ect this'so-called running bond is' ap-- parent, for example the course M will be started bytwo half blocks -12 with the voids vertically anda-block 10 with voids transversely of the wall whilef the course below would be started by vertical halves as shown.

A more simle construction is shown in Fig. 8, where t e course K consists of blocks 10. Except at the corners and pilaster, this wall has a thickness of one composite unit, or

I 2", as in .each case, minus -a mortar joint thickness. The corner is formedby half block 12 and the end similarly formedas shown. at the right, while the course J below{ is the same except that at its'corner, the hal block 12 is turned into the opposite direction to allow for the overlapping of the blocks 10 to provide the runnmg bond, and at the end at the right a full block' 10. may

'tion nearly a full distance' of m.

be conveniently used as shown. The pilaster, having a dimension .1: by 2 (approximately) in the course J, consists of a block 12, shown with the voids vertical, while it is bonded into the wall above and below by blocks 10 extending into the wall.

In Fig, 9, I have shown an illustrative wall having a thickness of one and one half units (or 3 minus a mortar joint thickness.) I have here illustrated a different manner of making pilasters and conveniently bonding them into the wall. Here the upper course R is shown at the ri ht as consisting of a series of blocks 10 lai withthe voids horizontal and closed at the corner by a half block 12, while at the inner side the half blocks 12 are laid with the voids horizontal;

Extending to the left from the corner, it is convenient to simply continue the outer series of half blocks, while the inner. series is then made up of whole blocks 10; and end whole block interrupting the half block series.

Outside of this is a half block 12. In the course S the whole block simply stands outside of the series of blocks 10, the bonding being effected by theblocks 10 of the course R and the course below.

In the pilaster P shown in the left part of the wall, one utility of the three quarter block 15 is illustrated as well as the quarter .block l l. In this as in a few otherinstances,

.it is necessary to use the three quarter block if the perfect pyramidal bond idea to be later described is consistently carried out. The cross section of Fig. 10 illustrates clearly the transverse bonding effect of the pilasters, as well as the wall. It also emphasizes, by clear illustration, the vertical alignment of all load bearing members, that is, of webs and shells, in the body of the wall, as well as in the pilaster.

This ideal wall construction also carries out a theme of pyramidal bpnding resulting from the composite block comprising a development of a multiplecof elemental cubes as above described. Wherever a full block ,is usedin a multiple thickness ofwall, it

overlaps both transversely and longitudinally of the course with an area of blocks above and below, the overlap being in any direc- For example, the block designated for convenience 10 in the course N of Fig. 7, stands over adjacent corners of four blocks 10 below and stands under adjacent corners of four blocks 10 above.

ness of mortar joint To illustrate more clearly, the principle of .the pyramidal bond accompanying bonding in both directions horizontally of a wall, I have shown in Fig. 11, a pyramidal pile .of blocks 10.

It will be noted that the uppermost block rests upon four blocks 10 occupying an area on each of 00 by 00 (minus a one half thickin each direction.) These four blocks in turn each rest upon four blocks below, occupyingcorresponding areas on each. \Vhcn so positioned, it will be immaterial whether the voids are hori-- zontal or vertical because in either instance, the voids 11 will stand over mortarspaces or joints between the blocks below. It will K of the dimension :12,'lyet still accomplishbe clear that a wall the full thickness of either of these courses may be completed with the use of half blocks or whole blocks and that this pyramidal bond will be efiected throughout.

It is obvious thatQ having established the {theme .ofa composite block consisting of multiples of theunits of an elemental hollow cube, this multiple may be any number many ofth purposes ofthe present inven- 'tion,-but to accomplish this pyramidal bond and cause the block with its divisions tobe the most unlikely to, result-in error in construction of walls, the composite block should be 2* by 2* by 2* with provision for mortar.

A mason told that he must overlap the blocks in courses above and below in both directions needs no further instruction, because the present habits of masonry in all countries assures the results of the carrying out of the present invention, to the end of attaining all of the desirable characteristics of hollow wall construction without sacrificing the load bearing characteristics of the wall.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is o 1. A- hollow building block, the edges of which define a cube, a shell forming four sides thereof, interior transverse double webs connecting the shell, the webs being spaced apart a distance equal to the thickness of a mortar joint, the block being thus divided into'four units each square in cross-section and each of which is double the length of av side of a theoretical cubeplus the mortar space, and the block capable of division into half, quarter or three-quarter portions by being subdivided through the mortar joint spaces.

2. A building blocks described in claim 1, in which all'the blocks in the wall are set to have the shells, of the cross sectionally square units thereof in load-bearing coincidence with the corresponding shells in the wall construction consisting of blocks of the courses above and. below with some of the blocks laid to have the voids thereof extending vertically and other of the blocks laid with the voidsextending hori- Zontally. i

3. A hollow 1oaabaang- 'a1, consisting pattern and whose edges define a cube, the block shells square units, each being doublelthe length of a side of a theoretical cube -.plus' the mortar joint, the wall-structurecomprising such composite cubical blocksor' divisions thereof being laid in even horizontal courses 'with the ends and corners-and pilasters'of the wall embodying whole blocks or block divisions with the voidsthereof set. ve rti-.

cally with every cubical element of the blocks having at least two walls in load bearing vertical alignment *with the webs and shells of'the'block's aboveland below and all the. blocks being-"set, inthe wallin a v pyramidal bonding relationship. 1

- 4. A hollow building block-theedges of which define a cube and having an outer shell forming four sides-thereof and interior transverse double webs connecting the shell walls, the webs beingspaced apart a distanceequal to the thickness of a mortar'joint .and

,forming with the shell a plurality of theoretical smaller cubes having the theoretic shell-walls thereof joined by portions ofthe outer shell and of the transverse webs which portions are of a width corresponding to" the thickness of a mortar joint.

5. A hollow load bearing bu lding wall consisting of cubically formed building blocks comprising a .four sided shell having two pairs of transverse interior-webs,

each pair connecting two opposite sides of the shell, and the web spacing beingsuch that the blocks may be divided into quarter sections having side dimensions which arev equal to one half the dimension of a cubical block minus one hah the thickness of a mortarjoint, said blocks being laid in the wall in even horizontal courses, the blocks in one course overlapping full blocks in the adjacent courses above and below a distance.

equal to the side dimension of said quarter sections of the block andwith every quarter part in the wall whether comprised in whole or half or half or quarter blocks having at least two shell or webmembers in vertical and load bearing alignment with 'corresponding members above and below.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

FREDERICK TWICHELL HEATH. 

